Tybalt crushes Romeo

Fien's POV

“STOP IT!” Ms. Stick rushed toward me furiously. She had every right to be angry. We were rehearsing the scene where Mia had to kill me.

“Fien, get your act together, and focus on what you are doing! What you just did was really dangerous and could have landed you in the hospital!”

I looked to the ground dejectedly. I had forgotten to dodge. If Mia hadn't noticed at the last second, that hit would have come in hard.

My thoughts had been all over the place ever since Maura asked me to escort her to the ball and had called it a date. Even now, it was all I could think about. Maura was precious to me, and I considered her to be my best friend, but I felt like I was considering her as more than that now.

What did I know? I never felt like this before. Is this love? Was I in love?

"I think I know what is going on. I will straighten her out. Can the two of us have a little break?" Mia asked.

Ms. Stick sighed and answered. “Fine, we will do another scene in the meantime. Don't take too long. I want to get this scene down today.”

Mia dragged me out of the room. I know just the place for the two of us to talk. Before I noticed we were standing on the rooftop of the school. I looked around and said “H-how?”

“This is my secret place. The perfect place to straighten out your thoughts.” Mia said.

The view of Brussels I got was amazing. I could even see the Atomium from here. Mia interrupted my little sightseeing tour and said:

“Don't let Maura play you like that. She is using Valerie's tricks. If you fall for those, she will never respect you.”

Tricks? What was she talking about?

Noticing my confusion, Mia formed a smile on her face and said: “Don't you worry, I'm here for you. I will give you the necessary weapons to fight back.”

Mia started explaining to me that Valerie had honed special seduction arts to make any girl fall for her and thought me a few tricks on how to deal with them, without rejecting Maura. How to turn the tables around so to speak. She was explaining and teaching me all of those things with a lot of zeal, but I had trouble keeping my mind with this.

Is this all love was for other people? Just a bunch of tricks and techniques? What about feelings? Wasn't true love about feelings? Like in my precious cute yuri novels.

While I was trying I suddenly asked “How do I know if I really like Maura?”

Valerie was clearly baffled by my question.

“I have been wondering about that ever since this morning. I thought of her as my best friend, I really love yuri stories, but I never really thought of myself in that situation.”

Valerie looked worried at me and said “I'm sorry. I had not noticed you were troubled over that. I'll try to help you, but in the end, only you can answer the question if you truly like Maura.”

I nodded, Valerie continued.

“To me, the symptoms of love started with contrasting feelings. When you are apart you think of her and all the things you want to say and do with her, but when she is in front of you, you stumble and become all nervous.”

I nodded. Those feelings sounded really familiar.

“But it is more than just that, you don't just want to be with her, you also think of things like kisses, and going further with her. Just that thought makes your body heat up, and makes you feel nervous and dazed.”

Going further. She was talking about that stuff I saw in Lisa's manga, wasn't she? Thinking of kissing and doing that kind of stuff with Maura... I think my brain was going tilt. Smoke must have been coming out of my ears.

Mia started laughing.

“You really wear your heart on your sleeves kid. You shouldn't doubt it. It's clear to me that you are head over heels for her.”

Was it that obvious to everyone else except myself?

“So I am in love with Maura,” I whispered to myself. Just saying this confirmation of my feelings out loud brought on a rush of adrenaline through my blood.

“B-but what now? I have a date with her tonight.”

Mia gave me a shoulder slap and said “That's why I brought you here, remember?”

I was really lucky that I had a friend like Mia. I would not have known how to start broaching the subject with Elodie. Heck, without Mia I might not have found out I like Maura in time.

I looked Mia determined in the eyes and said “I'm listening.”

“The keys to your success tonight are opportunity and initiative.”

I nodded.

“The best way to confirm your feelings is with a kiss,” Mia said.

“K-k-k-kiss?” She wanted me to have my first kiss tonight? The idea of having my first kiss with Maura brought butterflies to my stomach. I started daydreaming. When a finger snap in front of my eyes brought me back.

I slapped both my cheeks to boost my determination and concentration. No time to slack off and daydream now, Fien.

“Yes, kiss. You need to be the one to kiss her. Not the other way around. It's very important now that she is taking Valerie's teachings. You can see all those girls fawning over Valerie, can't you?”

I nodded. Everyone knew of Valerie's fan club.

“Well, Valerie flirts with them, just like Maura did with you. But Valerie does not care for girls that fall for her so easily, she just cares about me because for me, she needs to work and I work hard to constantly put her on the receiving end.”

I looked at her with big eyes. Mia surely was impressive.

“Fien, you don't want to be one of the girls from the Maura fan club, and for that, I am going to teach you my secret counter techniques on how to play the player.”

Mia drilled all kinds of techniques into me on how to recognize being played, and how to respond to Valerie's most common tricks.

After a short while, Mia said “That is all we can do for now, but I will come with you after school to prepare you for the ball.”

Seeing the determination in Mia's eyes, I knew she really would do her best to help me.

Then I heard her mumble “Like hell, am I going to let Valerie win through proxy.”

We went back to the rehearsal, and having sorted out my feelings a little more seemed to help. Even though my mind still wandered toward Maura, I felt more determined, and I managed to put that determination into my acting.

“Mia, I don't know what you did, but you seem to be really good at motivating people. You should put that talent to practice more often.” Ms. Stick said. “I will make sure that this recommendation goes into your dossier.”

Mia who had always been an incorrigible delinquent was now blushing like a little girl. It seemed like she wasn't used to getting real compliments like that.

Wait, this was one of those openings Mia talked about earlier. If you see a weak point, strike!

“Mia always helps me out when I am in trouble. She has been the most reliable senior for me.”

I stepped forward and gave her a big hug and said

“Thank you for always taking care of me.”

Mia clearly suffered a critical hit and turned completely red. She was breathing heavily.

This scene reminded me a bit of one of the yuri manga I read, so I followed up with a little inspired improvisation. “Since you are so special to me, is it okay if I call you big sis?” I put a little pout on my face and looked upward at her into her eyes.

Another wave of blushes and pokes went through Mia. Her pupils changed into hearts.

“S-s-so CUTE!” she shouted.

Everyone looked surprised at the uber-cool Mia acting so out of character.

She coughed, shook her head and I noticed her getting her act back together. I could see her cool front return.

I started laughing squeezed against her and said “Thank you. Seeing it in action, I feel like I will be able to handle tonight thanks to your help.” Mia patted my head while smiling at me.

After I let go I heard her softly say “Wh-What have I done? I think I might have created a monster.”